Blood Of The Death Gods
by Blue Lone Wolf 2574
Summary: While in Nagasaki, Hisoka comes across a strange figure in the night and tries to follow him but Tsuzuki somehow beats him to it. Is there something going on that's invisible to their eyes? Unsure of pairings but rated T to be safe


It may be a bit premature but dammit I just couldn't resist! Yami no Matsuei, or (as translated from Japanese) '_Descendants of Darkness_' has proven to be a new favorite for me and I'm not letting this opportunity go to waste. Besides, despite Muraki being a total nut job and utterly insane, he's still one hell of a hottie!!! But I definitely hate him for what he did to Hisoka though…. Anyway! I have no ownership over Yami no Matsuei in any way, but a Tsuzuki plushie would be great.

"Iii" speech

_Iii_ thought

Chapter 1: Tsuzuki Eavesdrops

_I can't believe him! Leaving me by myself to deal with this problem! Who does he think he is? His own one-man team where he's the sole member? _A boy of sixteen thought angrily as he ran through the empty streets of Nagasaki, having managed to spot a rather suspicious character roaming around before the boy had to give chase. Bright green eyes flashed in the moonlight, light brown hair whipping in the wind as he ran through the cool autumn streets. Even though he was trying to keep up with his target, his thoughts still surrounded his sugar-obsessed partner Tsuzuki. But he was soon brought to reality when his target nearly vanished around a corner, making the boy curse as he tried to match the figure's amazing speed.

Cold winds and dark skies barely registered to the young shinigami as he ran through the empty city streets. His target, though a tad bit elusive, had yet to vanish from his sharp bright green eyes as Hisoka struggled to catch up with the figure some distance in front of him. Suddenly the figure made an astonishing move: they headed right down a dead end street where there were no alleys big enough for even a large dog to squeeze through.

_I've got you now._ The teen thought in triumph as he moved a little faster to catch the figure by surprise. Only problem was, instead of slowing down, the figure only sped up even more as he/she ran headlong toward a building wall. Wondering what the figure had planned, Hisoka had no choice but to try and stop the person first.

"Oh no you don't!" he growled as he made a leap for the figure in the attempt of tackling him or her. Thing was the only thing he managed to get his hands on was air while the figure continued on unabated and unhindered by the boy's daring attempt at intervening his or her escape. Falling with a grunt to the ground, Hisoka quickly looked up to find the figure nowhere to be found and him by himself in the night.

"Damn it!" he shouted in frustration, the yell echoing toward the sky. Getting off the ground, the teen glared at the solid wall in front of him as he searched his brain for any answers on the matter. _How did he do that? Did he use an illusion spell of some kind? Was he even really there at all? This is total bullshit!_

Still cursing under his breath angrily, Hisoka saw no other choice but to head back to the hotel and report what he'd seen the strange man do. The fact that the figure had vanished so quickly still disturbed him greatly, which was sometime fairly hard to do at times, that and the fact that even though his target had mass, it was still very unnerving that despite this fact… they didn't have substance.

--_**One Hour Earlier**_—

"Tsuzuki! Tsuzuki! Dammit where'd he go now?" Hisoka grumbled as he looked around for his partner gone AWOL. Apparently the older man had vanished again, most likely in his childish hunt for sweets and cakes to eat rather than helping the younger male search the city for their new suspect. _Even though we're trying to find some guy who's kidnapping people, that guy can still think of only sweets?_

It wasn't until a few minutes later that his thoughts were interrupted when he noticed a strange figure moving through the late night crowds, walking a bit too carefully for someone who was in plain view of the mortal public. His dress was pretty simple: black trench coat, much like Tsuzuki's, only this person was wearing it over some less formal attire. Hiking boots of a dark chocolate brown, along with what appeared to be black jeans and a loose dress shirt of hunter green accommodating his slim form. Hands in his pockets and face hidden by shadows despite streetlights and the moon itself, their face remained unseen.

To assist in this annoying obscurity had been a hat of some kind, along with hair of a dark brown. The hat, seeming to be that of a farmer's or a country worker's from back in the day, back when computers were as alien as snow in central Texas. (Not the wide brimmed. The kind the English wear when they herd sheep and stuff.) His, or her, hair was short and seemed to be the spiky kind if the hat didn't hinder it from defying gravity like it wanted to.

Seeing the figure stop, Hisoka froze, just then realizing he'd begun to shadow the figure as they walked down the street. The person turned, their face still hidden by the nights' shadows and hair from under the hat's brim. Hisoka immediately hid behind the nearest thing: a telephone pole that was thankfully big enough to hide the boy from view as he hesitantly peaked out from behind it. The figure was staring at the empty sidewalk behind them, seemingly curious but possibly satisfied in finding nothing as they turned back and continued to walk on.

With a sigh of relief, Hisoka left his hiding spot in time to see the figure crossing the street and was on edge of losing him. Jogging to catch up, but not enough to be noticed, the teen continued to trail the figure through the streets of Nagasaki.

--_**With Tsuzuki**_—

"I'm back! Huh?" his shout of happiness was shut down by his confusion when he returned to the street corner only to find his partner wasn't really there anymore. Looking around in his childish innocence, Tsuzuki just had to ask. "Where'd he go?"

"Maybe he got tired of waiting on you." GuShoShin, the flying, talking 'chicken' creature deadpanned as it floated around his head with an exasperated look on its bird-like face. Tsuzuki sweat dropped with a childish pout at this response but didn't say anything as he looked around for his grumpy partner.

_Why didn't he wait? Did he really get that impatient with me again?_ The older man thought, coming his fingers through his dark brown hair. Purple eyes scanned the place, wondering if the boy was still in the area only to find more of nothing. _Where did he go? Please Hisoka…don't get into any trouble._

Pushing such thoughts away, Tsuzuki came to a decision and started walking through the now empty streets of the Japanese city, hoping to find the boy in his search for the suspect. How little did he know that at that particular moment, he was traveling in a fairly different direction than Hisoka was.

--_**With Hisoka**_—

_I've been following this guy for almost an hour! Where is he going?_ The teen thought to himself as he paused while the figure waited for a car to pass and for the light to change at a street corner, seeming to be as calm as pond water. Just when he thought that things couldn't be any more boring, something about the figure changed. They seemed to shiver at a nonexistent wind before they crossed the street with a new kind of vigor in their step, each foot seeming to eat the ground beneath them in large gulps as they went.

Curious but cautious still, Hisoka moved to match this newfound speed and urgency as the figure quickly changed direction, no longer caring about crosswalks or acting like a normal bystander. No, this person's behavior had changed considerably from calm and collected to rushed and possibly irritated. Their hands were freed of the pockets and were now swinging at their sides to add momentum to their stride.

Hisoka, though trying to go unnoticed, couldn't help but think that confronting the stranger would assist him better in finding out where the figure was going. Too bad he got clumsy and got noticed anyway. As the figure started to jog around yet another street corner, only then did they, out of the corner of their eye, noticed that Hisoka wasn't very far behind. With that, the figure up and bolted as if his ass were on fire.

Uttering a curse or two under his breath, Hisoka had no choice but to bolt right on after the now vanishing figure, avoiding late night cars and the rare but occasional late night streetwalker.

--_**Present Time, with Tsuzuki**_—

It'd already been an hour and he was still searching. That and he was getting really worried. He'd sent out a messenger bird and GuShoShin to try and track Hisoka from the sky, but so far his own efforts had been practically downright pointless but not to mention tiring. Somehow having ended up in the city park, Tsuzuki seated himself tiredly onto one of the many park benches in a sigh of exhaustion while turning his bright colored gaze up toward the dark night sky. Thankfully, not too many lights were on so he could actually see the hundreds upon thousands of stars shining high above him. He would've stared at them for a while longer if a noise off in the trees hadn't caught his attention.

A rustle of leaves and maybe a snap of a twig, something or someone rushed through the plant life far from the path and the lights being swarmed by moths. Curious in as to the goings-on's, Tsuzuki rose from the bench to investigate the odd sounds coming from the foliage. He didn't have to go far to spot a group of slim figured teens standing within the shadows of the trees, each dressed almost all alike.

Only one of them was gasping for breath, the others staring at him as if curiously on terms of his condition.

"What happened to you? You look like you ran a marathon." One of them asked in an aggravated tone, the one in question dressed in a leather jacket that only reached his waist on top of regular blue jeans and sneakers. Unlike the one gasping for breath, this one was sporting a baseball cap.

"Got spotted. Had to run. Real persistent kid if you ask me." The black trench coat said between gasps for air, using his knees as support.

Another seemed to start in surprise; their own attire somewhat similar to the rest of the group, dressed in a leather jacket like the second figure but had a pair of khaki's on instead of jeans. Oddly enough, he sounded surprised as well as concerned. "You got spotted? That's unlike you. What'd you do? You didn't--."

"Hell no! I lost him! That's all okay?" the one in the black trench coat snapped, having reobtained his ability to breath properly.

"If you say so." The second one said with a snap, making the first man flinch but say nothing for a moment.

"You bet I do." He grumbled, seeming to send a nasty look at the second through the darkness of the night. If the second was about to say something, he didn't get the chance when a fourth of their number spoke up.

"That's enough! We have better things to do here than argue. Did you find anything while you were out?" the final member growled in frustration, rubbing his unseen temples, his own attire seeming to match that of his colleagues. Dark blue jeans and black sneakers were all Tsuzuki could make out in what little light he had but the angle he was at betrayed something tan colored. And oddly enough, from what the shinigami could tell, he also seemed to have a beanie on.

"No. Nothing all that interesting that's worth looking into at the moment. Unless you guys wanna go sightsee for once." The black trench coat grumbled, having long since straightened to stand in a lazy way, now completely relaxed.

The fourth figure nodded, seeming to rub his chin in thought with an invisible hand. "We don't have that kind of luxury. Not here. What about you two?"

The second figure scoffed in annoyance. "Don't make me laugh. This place is so bare it's sad. There's nothing out there that's worth even trying to scan for anything suspicious. Whoever watches over this place has all the bases covered. If any came here, they got smart and left."

The third nodded but soon spoke in an uncertain tone. "Or they got smart and blended in. We can't let this pass us by. Where there's a door they use it. And there's a door alright."

"But the question is: did they use it to get here and if so, when? And, should anyone be wondering, why?" the fourth pondered aloud almost to himself, the other three seeming to do the same.

Finally the one in the black trench coat spoke again, this time in a fairly authorative tone. "Those'll have to be answered later. For now we should keep looking. Head out."

"Got it." The fourth grumbled before heading off into the bushes and vanishing from sight.

"Whatever." The second snapped just as angrily as before, forcing his way through the brush in a way that said more than enough about his mood.

The third figure seemed uncertain but seemed to give the first a cheerful expression through the darkness of the night. "Already there."

With that, all three were gone except one who stood frozen to the spot, seeming to be motionless and utterly lifeless in every way. Or at least, that's what Tsuzuki thought until the figure's image began to vanish a bit too quickly and a voice came floating into his left ear. "Ya know… I would've loved to hear what excuse you just might have for being here but… I'm just not in the mood for such a thing. That and well… I doubt I'd have believed you."

Astonished, Asato Tsuzuki turned to find a pair of remarkably bright silver grey eyes staring back at him lazily, seeming to pierce his very skin, their gaze traveling all the way down to his soul itself. When Tsuzuki said nothing but just stared, the voice belonging to the eyes kept going. "Now then… what to do with you huh? I'd kill you but that's not my style. And erasing your memory would be such a shame. Especially with an energy signature like yours."

"E-energy signature?" Tsuzuki stammered, amazed that the teen next to him was so knowledgeable despite his obviously laidback demeanor.

The figure seemed to shrug, even though the only thing Tsuzuki could see were his unusual eyes. "Hm yes. Quite unique and oddly powerful, cosmic but yet humble at the same time, something one of your framework shouldn't be able to handle. Too powerful to be of human origin, much less powerful than the 'gods' I've come across in my time. A spiritually talented investigator, or a phantom cop of some kind? Or maybe… something a bit more familiar yet completely unheard-of compared to anything that might be defined as 'normal'."

Tsuzuki, truly nervous now, could only gulp in anxiety as the man's gaze never wavered or blinked, holding his a bit too intensely. But much to his surprise, the man, or rather teen, sighed in sudden fatigue and the eyes seemed to vanish from view. This allowed the shinigami to see the figure sit on one of the roots of the tree he'd come to hide behind, his face still hidden in shadow. "Feel lucky that your friend gave me quite a work out earlier. Pretty persistent little brat isn't he?"

"Um… well I--." Tsuzuki began to stammer again only for the teen to cut him off with his oddly lazy voice.

"Eh. You don't have to answer. I'm not staying long anyway. That and that brat's almost here by the way." He grumbled while sounding purely irritated now as he rose from his makeshift seat that was the tree's root.

"Really?" Tsuzuki inquired, astonished by this remarkable insight on the teen's outlook on the things around him.

The teen just shrugged again, as if he didn't really care that much at all. "Yeah. Real pain in the ass if you ask me, gets on my nerves that kid, and I've no idea what his name is. Can always ask him later when he's not as angry as he is right now. Why do you think I ran all this way? To give the relay stick to someone else?"

"Well I don't--." Just as Tsuzuki tried to respond once again, the teen still went ahead and cut the man off anyway.

"No matter. Just watch out for the living shadows okay spirit man? Can't have someone like you getting snatched. That would really suck. Later." And within seconds, like only a few moments before, the teen was gone as if he were the wind itself.

Tsuzuki could only sit in shock about what'd just occurred between him and the strange teen he'd only met mere moments beforehand. He never noticed that the crickets had gone unusually quiet during the conversation he'd overheard, much less any birds that'd been out had been silenced by something. Sound finally reached the shinigami's ears as Hisoka suddenly came into view with GuShoShin following not far behind, none of them noticed the group of eyes watching from a distance before they dissipated into the cool, quiet night.

--_**Later, In Meifu, Shokan District**_—

"What do you mean he just left?!" chief Konoe, elderly but normally cheerful by nature, only right now, he looked absolutely furious.

"I'm serious Chief! He didn't even attack me! He just talked and then up and disappeared! I swear!" Tsuzuki exclaimed desperately, waving his hands as if to fend off some kind of invisible projectiles that just so happened to be his superior's words of anger at his lousy results.

"Hmm. And Hisoka… you say he ran from you?" the elderly man inquired at the teen, ignoring Tsuzuki's loud sigh of relief that the man's attention had shifted.

Hisoka nodded, looking purely agitated about the fact. "Hai, like he didn't want me to follow him. Why I don't know but what I'm wondering is why would he let Tsuzuki listen in instead of me."

The old man looked thoughtful, rubbing his chin as he stared the two down from across his desk. "Well, it would seem we'll need to be on our toes from here on out. You two go ahead and go back to Nagasaki. See if you can't catch one of these strangers and bring him in for questioning. I want to meet this 'ghost' of yours Hisoka."

"Yes sir." The teen could only say with a tired sigh.

"Dismissed." Konoe said in a short grunt, the two one the other side of his desk bowing to him before showing themselves to the door.

Within minutes, the two were walking down the halls, Hisoka still fuming while Tsuzuki looked fairly thoughtful. Probably daydreaming about cake again. The teen thought venomously to himself, unaware that the older man's gaze had fallen on him as they headed towards their office room. Not liking to see the boy in this disturbingly foul mood, Tsuzuki quickly thought of a way to raise the boy's spirits. "Don't be so down Hisoka-kun! You'll get your chance next time."

Glaring at his older counterpart, Hisoka only growled angrily and stomped off in a huff, leaving poor Tsuzuki confused and thoughtful. Shrugging it off for the moment, the brunette continued toward their office room before getting ready to head out again. He could only hope that his partner's mood would lighten up by then.

--_**In Nagasaki**_—

Sadly, by the time they got back to the bustling city, Hisoka only seemed to grow even more irritated than before. He'd even had enough anger to literally force Tsuzuki to stay away from the sweets shops they were bound to find in their search for the other black trench coated teen. Though Tsuzuki sulked at this and gave Hisoka a pout that would make anyone pity the man, he said nothing but obeyed anyway. He didn't want to make the boy any more enraged than he already was.

Without a word, the two went in their own directions, both looking for the same thing only with the hopes of finding it before the other. Tsuzuki could only watch as Hisoka walked off into the crowds with GuShoShin floating not far behind him. He turned to face the west, wondering if the strange teen from the night before would come find him instead of the other way around.

Off in the distance, two pairs of eyes watched the two part ways, both equally curious of their strange prey. Both pairs meeting for mere seconds, the two figures nodded to each other before going after their own target, bounding off the rooftops as if they were trampolines. Even as they passed through the air on invisible wings and past windows, their presence went completely unnoticed. Landing down into the streets filled with people, the two followed their own shinigami with the expertise and grace of the shadows themselves.

--_**On The Far Side Of Town**_—

Tatsumi didn't know why he was in Nagasaki. Mainly, he thought, it was to keep Tsuzuki from spending an outrageous amount of money on sweets and cakes that he normally got caught with and was forced to share with the rest of the staff. Along with that, Watari had wandered off somewhere in order to do heavens above knows what with his spare time. _Probably to find parts for his stupid inventions that he insists on making for no apparent reason._ He thought as the tall brunette walked the cool, windy streets of Nagasaki, remembering clearly to have been ordered by Chief Konoe to help Tsuzuki and Hisoka find the four mystery teens that were wandering around somewhere.

Before he knew it, he found himself in the city park, vaguely wondering why his feet had led him there in the first place. _I need to take a closer look at this area anyhow. No need to be getting sidetracked._ He grumbled silently to himself, a bit annoyed at not noticing where he'd been going in the first place. It was too late for him to react when someone or something came up from behind him in a manner that was fairly eerie in his standards. He was about to turn around when the figure's voice stopped him.

"No need for alarm. I'm not here for battle. Geez, I swear, you're a bit more stiff than the other guy that was here last time." the voice wasn't gruff but it wasn't smooth either. Despite this, it was kind and lacking in hostility. Tatsumi could literally feel the figure's lazy aura right through his spine.

After a few moments of confused shock, Tatsumi regained his normally stoic composure. "What do you want?"

The figure behind him seemed to be curious about this question. "Want? What's that mean? Who said I wanted something?"

"Obviously you're here to talk about something aren't you? Isn't there something in particular you're looking for?" Tatsumi queried, hoping that the figure behind him wouldn't do anything that would cause him to use his skills.

However, the figure seemed thoughtful. "Hmm. That's quite true… but I doubt you'd know about it."

"Try me." The brunette pressed, his inner-self screaming for answers.

Thoughtful still, the figure remained silent for a moment. "I don't know… you just might get into something you won't be able to get out of if you have me tell you. So, why not wonder about what I told your friend hm?"

"Tsuzuki?" Tatsumi almost exclaimed despite his normally cool demeanor.

Something about the figure's aura changed, as if he hadn't expected Tatsumi to say Tsuzuki's name. "So that's his name huh? Interesting. Like none I've heard in a while. Must be one of those rarely used ones. But the other one, the younger one… his energy was very interesting now that I think about it."

Curious, Tatsumi decided to keep the figure talking. "What do you mean?"

The figure, though unseen, seemed to shrug. "Nothing much. Only that there might be something wrong with it. Like it's been tampered with. Something that's definitely not healthy for someone as young and oddly resolute as him. It'd be a real shame if it killed him off somehow."

Tatsumi felt his blood run cold. _Something's wrong with Hisoka-kun? Why didn't he tell us before? And how does this man know? What exactly is he?_ Quickly setting such thoughts aside, Tatsumi took what little time he had to think fast. "And you're saying you can do something about it? Is that it?"

The figure behind him was silent for a few seconds before the brunette received a rather curious as well as surprised response. "Do something? Me? As in, do something for one as stubborn as him? Why? Are you asking for one like myself to assist him in his health issues when he could be trying to deal with it himself? Or maybe the one who was here before is trying to do something about it in his own special way."

Tatsumi really had to think this statement over before responding. "That… wouldn't really surprise me."

"Hm. Proves you know enough about him to respect his choices. That's good for any kind of coworker to have knowledge of about their peers." The figure's tone seemed almost to mock Tatsumi, making the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end. But something else about the figure's words told him otherwise.

"So what exactly do you want from me?" Tatsumi dared ask again, hoping this time to gain a straight answer.

The figure seemed to shrug again from behind Tatsumi. "Nothing really. Besides. You already gave me what I wanted."

Blinking in surprise, the brunette dared to turn his head enough to catch a glimpse of the black trench coat over the dark green shirt, almost completely hidden by the shadows of the night. "And what would that be?"

"A good conversation." The figure's voice seemed to smile as both what little of what Tatsumi could see of him, as well as his lazy aura, completely vanished.

Caught utterly off guard, Tatsumi turned all the way around, hoping to see or even sense the figure off in the distance only to come up with nothing. Whoever it'd been, he or she was nowhere to be found and from what he was able to tell, the figure hadn't been menacing or devious in any way. _So that means he's not Muraki in disguise. And he didn't seem to be under Muraki's control either. If that's not the case… then who is he really? And why is he here?_

Leaving such thoughts for later with the knowledge that staying there all night would be pointless; Tatsumi adjusted his glasses and headed back to the hotel, hoping that Tsuzuki and Hisoka would be fine by themselves.

--_**With Hisoka**_—

_Dammit! It's already been almost two hours and I still haven't found anything! This is so fucked up it's not even funny._ The teen cursed viciously to himself as he stomped through the cool night streets of Nagasaki, his light brown hair being tossed by chilly gusts of autumn winds. Clear skies, bright stars and an even brighter moon weren't enough to calm the boy's violent anger at how much time he'd wasted looking for something he didn't even have any idea on how to find.

"My, my. Aren't you an angry one?" a voice suddenly taunted from somewhere behind him, making the teen's eyes widen in shock, making him freeze.

Startled, Hisoka turned to find an empty street while GuShoShin floated around over his head, looking just as confused as him. "What was that?"

"I don't know but it seemed to come out of nowhere." The bird creature said nervously from where it floated next to his head. But this only made the strange voice amazingly angry or annoyed somehow.

"Nowhere you say? Foolish critter. Only beings of true mastery of their skills can create something from nothing." It growled almost viciously, making the GuShoShin next to him squeak in terror at the voice's merciless tone.

"Who are you?! Where are you?" Hisoka demanded, almost shouting into the dark as his eyes tried to find the source of the strange voice that sounded a bit far from human.

The voice spoke again, sounding as if mocking the very words. "Who? Where? I don't have to tell a pipsqueak like you something as trivial as that. What you should be more worried about… is _yourself!_"

Hisoka barely had time to leap out of the way as something flashed from amidst the many shadows, coming to embed themselves on the very spot where he'd been only seconds before. It was a sword, a traditional Japanese katana, with its slim blade but strangely rusted and jagged. As if the wielder had no idea how to care for the thing at all, or just didn't care to perform such a task.

But when the wielder came into view, everything Hisoka thought about the situation was tossed right out the window: the man, or whatever it was, stood at a fairly average height but his posture was slightly slouched, his clothes practically rags while his skin… oh his skin looked unnaturally grayish white in the electric beam of the street lamp overhead as he walked forward and took the sword by the hilt. He also seemed to have a powerful stench wafting off of him that was being carried by the wind, into the air to make Hisoka cough from disgust.

Something about that smell made him freeze. It was a smell that was all too familiar to him in far more uncomfortable ways than he would care to count. He could only think one thing at that moment: _Blood… this guy… smells like old blood!_

Hisoka could only stare as the newcomer turned to him with a face that almost made him want to fall to his knees and throw up his latest meal: eyes mismatched and menacing in a way that was almost nightmarish in character, the figure stood with an insane expression, obviously poor stitching making up the most part of his face. What's worse, not only did the man's teeth were disgustingly yellow and jagged, as if broken or almost like an animal's most likely with the breath to match.

As the teen shinigami stood in complete shock of this new predicament, the man's insane grin only widened to where he could literally hear some of the stitches in his face creak to accommodate the expression.

"Now then. How should I kill thee? Let me count the ways."

Cliffhanger of the century! And obviously not too soon mind you, for things to get a bit too far out of hand for Tsuzuki and the gang. But can they stand up to the challenge? That's a pretty good question that I'm not gonna answer. Though I can at least tell you guys about what's to come right? Right:

Next chapter:

Chapter 2: Hisoka's New Challenge

It looks like Hisoka's in a bit of trouble and Tatsumi has a puzzle on his hands. But what about our wonderfully cute main character Tsuzuki who has yet to run into any trouble of his own? Is it possible that he might have to face something similar to what his partner's up against? Or will it turn out to be something far worse than that? Can Hisoka defeat this new enemy without paying the cost of his life? Or will Tatsumi or Tsuzuki realize the danger and come to his aid? Find out with the next installment of '_Blood Of The Death Gods_':

_**Chapter 2: Hisoka's New Challenge!!!**_


End file.
